Music-holder.



No. 838,077. PATENTED DEC. 11, 1906.

. s. E. BUCK;

MUSIC HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED urns, 190a.

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PATENTED DEC. 11, 1906. S. B. BUCK.

MUSIC HOLDER. APPLICATION FILED JAN.5, 1906.

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STEPHEN E. BUCK, OF MOLINE, ILLINOIS.

MUSIC-HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 11, 1906.

Application filed January 5,1906. Serial No. 294.811.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN E. BUCK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Moline, in the county of Rock Island and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Music-Holders; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in devices for supporting book or sheet music upon pianos or similar instruments; and it consists in the novel construction, combina tion, and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive, durable, and eflicient music-holder of this character which may be readily adjusted tofit pianos of different sizes and makes and which will effectively support and hold the music in position, so

I that the performer can readily read the same.

The above and other objects which will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood are accomplished by means of the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a portion .of an upright piano, showing the application of my improved music holder thereto, the holder being shown in its closed position in full lines and its open position in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the holder removed from the piano. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view showing the manner of adjusting the holder to adapt it for use on pianos of diflerent sizes and makes, and Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on the plane indicated by the line a a of Fig. 4, and

ig. 6 is a detail perspective view of a modified form of the lower end or base of the music-holder.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, 1 denotes a portion of an upright piano of usual form, which has a music rest or rack 2, an upwardly and outwardly swinging front 3, and an upwardly and rearwardly swinging top or lid 4, and 5 denotes my improved music-holder, which is removably mounted upon the piano. The holder may be supported at its lower end in the rack 2 and have its upper end engaged with the swinging front 3 beneath the cover or lid 4 but I preferably adjust and secure the holder upon the front 3 by having the lower end of the holder engage the bottom edge of the front 3 and by adjusting the upper portion of the holder to engage the top of the front 3, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. The holder comprises two parallel clamping bars or members 6 7, which are similar and preferably of right-angular form in cross-section. Secured to or formed upon the lower end of the member 6, which I will call the stationary member, is an angle metal plate or bracket 8, which is adapted to fit under and engage the bottom edge of the front 3, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, and adjustably mounted upon the upper end of the stationary member 6 is a bar 9, which has an inwardly-projecting hook or jaw 10 at its upper end to fit over and engage the upper edge of the front 3, so that the cover or lid 4 will swing downwardly upon the same. The adjustable connection between the bar 5 and the member 6 is preferably effected by form ing upon the upper face of its laterally-extending flange 11 two or more studs or projections 12, which are here shown in the form of rivets 13, and by forming in the inner face of the bar 9 a plurality of seats or recesses 14 to receive the projections or studs 12. These seats or recesses are so arranged that the bar 9 may be adjusted .longitudinally at any point upon the flange 11. The bar is secured in its adjusted position by means of alatch 15, which is pivoted upon the under side of the flange 11 by one of the rivets 13 and which has a resilient hook-shaped lower end 16 to spring over the outer edges of the bar 9 and the flange 11, as clearly shown in the drawings. By means of this adjustable connection between the bar 9 and the stationary member 6 it will be seen that the hooks or jaws 8 and 10 may be adjusted toward and from each other to permit them to be engaged with the front 3 of a piano of any size, and thereby rigidly support the device in position.

The movable clamping member 7 is adapted to be moved toward and from the stationery member 6, so that music may be clamped between the forwardly or outwardly projecting flanges 11 of said members 6 7 by providing two or more parallel links 18. The latter are equal in length, so that the members are maintained in parallel relation, and they have their ends pivoted by rivets or the like IIO 13 and 14 upon the under faces of the laterally-projecting flanges 11 of said members. The lowermost link 18 has one of its ends extended, as at 19, and to said extended end is pivoted by a rivet or the like 20 an operatinglever 21. ed at 22 upon the upper face of the flange 11 of the stationary member 6, and its outer end is formed with an upturned finger-piece 23.

When the lever 21 is swun inwardl over" the flange 11 of the member 6, so that the member 7 will be moved inwardly to its closed position, the pivot 20 is adapted to swing into a recess 25, formed in the flange 1 1, as shown. The music after being clamped between the flanges 17 of the members 6 7 is adapted to be held open by a bow-shaped spring 26, which is pivotally mounted at its center, as shown at 27, to the free or outer end of the link 28. The latter has its opposite end similarly pivoted, as at 29, to a link 30, which in turn has its opposite end pivoted at 31 upon the upper end of the flange 17 on the member 7. The friction between these parts and their pivots 27, 29, and 31 is sufiicient to retain them in any position in which they may be placed, so that the arms of the spring-bow 26 may be adjusted over any portion of the music clamped in the device. When it is desired to turn the music, the spring 26 and its carrying-links 28 and 30 are swung upwardly out of the way.

The construction, use, and advantages of the invention will be readily understood from the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. It will be seen that after the holder has been secured upon the piano, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or in any other suitable manner, the music may be readily inserted between the flanges or jaws 17 of the two clamping members 6 7 while the latter are in the dotted-line posi-. tion shown in Fig. 1, and the music may be securely clamped between the members by swinging the lever 21 upwardly to its closed position to move said members to the fullline position shown in Fig. 1. When the music is thus clamped, the spring-bow 26 may be adjusted upon any part of the music, as will be readily understood.

The device is of simple, durable, and comparatively inexpensive construction and may be quickly applied to any piano without the use of screws or the like and without injury to the same.

When the lower end of the holder is to be supported in the usual music-rack 2 on the piano, I preferably secure by rivets or the like 35 upon the lower end of the bar or member 6 two angularly-arranged feet or bracket members 36, which have their diverging lower ends bent, as at 37, to engage the rack 2 and their extreme outer portions 38 bent The latter has its inner end pivot upwardly to engage the lower edges of the music and retain the same in position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 1. A device of the character described comprising two clamping members, means for securing one of said members upon a piano or the like, means for moving the other of said members toward and from the stationary member to clamp music or the like between them, and means carried by one of said members for holding said music open.

2. A device of the character described comprising a stationary clamping member and a movable clamping member, means for securing said stationary member upon a piano or the like, parallel links connecting said members, and a lever for moving said members toward and from each other.

3. A device of the character described comprising a stationary clamping member and a movable clamping member, means for securing said stationary member upon a piano or the like, parallel links connecting said members, a lever for moving said movable member toward and from the stationary member, pivotally-connected links carried by. one of said members, and a spring carried by said links and adapted to engage the music clamped between said members.

4. A device of the character described comprising a pair of clamping members, one longitudinally adjustable and provided with means for securing it to a piano or the like, links connecting said members for movement toward and from each other, and means to bear on the face of the music clamped between said members and hold the music open.

5. A device of the character described comprising a pair of clamping members, means to attach one of them to a piano or the like, links connecting said members for movement toward and from each other, and a lever coacting with one of said links for moving said members toward and from each other, for the purpose set forth.

6. In combination with means for clamping sheet-music at the folded portion thereof, a flexibly-jointed arm pivotally connected to the said clamping means and extending forwardly therefrom, and a spring-bow for bearing on the music-leaves andholding the same open, said bow having its central portion attached to the free end of said jointed arm, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing wit- 116SS6S.

STEPHEN E. BUCK. WVitnesses ESTHER SEVERIN, W. H. OOURNE. 

